Tasneem Virani is not only the Founder and Director of Claris Coaching, she is also the Managing Director of GroYourBiz in London, and Chair of London’s first MyBusinessMyBoard Advisory Board.

GroYourBiz™ was developed for women entrepreneurs who want to take their business to the next level. Each month entrepreneurs draw upon the skills, expertise, inspiration and energy of like-minded entrepreneurs, offering practical solutions to attracting tomorrow’s customers and expansion needs. GroYourBiz has grown groups of supportive women entrepreneurs all around the world, and Tasneem chairs the new Advisory Board in London.

At Canada House

The GroYourBiz reception took place at Canada House, London on 20th February, and saw over 100 entrepreneurial women come together to celebrate each other. Under a twinkling chandelier, High Commissioner of Canada, HE Mrs Janice Charette likened the vision of GroYourBiz to her own: to create ecosystems allowing businesses to grow. She illustrated how innovation happens when we connect, by telling the story of Clarks, the Welsh company that first got Canadian maple syrup into squeezy bottles – a task that had defeated Canadian producers!

Valuable Advice

HE Janice Charette gave generous and heart-warming advice: do what you love; believe in yourself; remember it’s all about people; and finally, marry well (needless to say, that one was tongue-in-cheek). Her final, valuable message was that a good board is a diverse board. Diversity makes for deeper discussions, and better decisions – certainly an approach that Tasneem has taken as chair of the London Advisory Board.

Feeling Inspired

Barbara speaking to the audience about the successes of GroYourBiz

Barbara Mowat, President and Founder of GroYourBiz Ltd, described how she had supported small businesses all her life, starting at the age of 17 and working with entrepreneurs in 40 countries since then. She inspired with her story of helping the ten members of an Afghan Women’s council to come up with a product in 2003, only for them to grow to ten thousand members by 2013. Don’t go it alone, share you challenges, she said: this is what GroYourBiz is for. As Barbara put it, on a successful advisory board, ‘the secret sauce is the facilitator’, which is where Tasneem comes in…

Chair of the London Board

Tasneem took the stage to talk about the new Advisory Board she’s been chairing in London since October. Its eleven members meet each month, sharing their challenges and advice from their experiences as entrepreneurs. Tasneem shared her own personal experiences as an entrepreneur and identified the type of support she would have liked. This resonated well with the structure of GroYourBiz, as the peer advisory board facilitates accountability and provides trusting advisors to support a clear business direction. Later she introduced three of the board members; they described how their businesses had grown even in their first few months on the board, and how useful it was to have a framework to work within, helping them to focus and evaluate their progress. They also took the time to praise Tasneem's generosity, respect and care.

Tasneem speaking to the audience about her experiences as the UK MD for GroYourBiz

The evening ended as it began: with champagne and much friendly chatting, and a distinct air of positivity in Canada House as women entrepreneurs celebrated themselves and each other! See the gallery below.